The difference in printing quality

A common question that I’m often asked is concerning the great diversity in the quality of prints from one place to another as well as other products. Maybe you have found this yourself when collecting a set of photographs from a printers such as Boots or Asda, sometimes they look very good and you’re delighted with them but on other

occasions they look really poor. As a photographer it is very important to me that my photographs are always printed at the highest possible quality. As a wedding photographer in Edinburgh all my couples get all their photographs on disc at high resolution which gives them control over where they go for their prints so here are a few facts and tips that hopefully may prove helpful to them and also my portrait clients, too. Let me start with basic printing. The highest quality printing is carried out at a resolution of 300dpi (dots per inch) that is the standard which your glossy magazines, books, calendars and

other high end photography products are printed at. For all my own prints and products I also print at 300dpi. However, virtually all high street labs and

printers have their machines set to print at a much lower resolution of around 200dpi, some of them even going as low 150. The reason for this is for greater speed and economy. Now as you can see the figures show that the quality of this printing is only half as good as that done at the higher resolution. If you are only wanting a small set of photographs, say 6 x 4, you may not notice the difference because it is not quite so discernible to the naked eye at this relatively small size. But the larger you want your photograph the more noticeable it becomes. Therefore, my advice particularly to my wedding

clients is use the high street printers for economy reasons, perhaps to get an entire set of their photographs printed at 6x4 or even 7x5, but for anything special to be mounted, framed and used for display they can order directly from me. One further thing to mention on this subject is that most professional photographers have their printers,

monitors and other equipment closely calibrated to ensure your final photograph matches the quality at which it is taken in camera. And in addition to this, whereas a high street printer simply has your disc placed in one end of the machine while the photos pop out at the other end, in house printing has the photographer physically inspecting each individual photograph for accuracy, quality and overall perfection. Another aspect of printing to consider is what exactly you are printing on to. Photographic papers vary greatly in price and quality and again you will find these affect the finished look of your picture as well as the longevity. Let me use Canvas Wraps as a typical example. You can buy a canvas wrap on the internet for a relatively

small sum of money and quite a bit cheaper than buying one direct from your photographer. But canvas choice and quality is critical. Most canvases used by internet companies are very low grade, hence their cheap prices. This can adversely affect the picture quality itself, perhaps spoiling the definition, colour balance, sharpness, clarity, etc. But also it’s longevity (how many faded or tatty looking canvases have you seen hanging on people’s walls?). A high grade canvas will last a lifetime, if not several generations, and will retain all the above mentioned characteristics. In addition to this many people do not realise at the time of ordering that for a top quality canvas wrap the original image needs accurately resizing. By nature of the name a canvas wrap is where the image wraps around the edge of the canvas frame. When you upload or hand your disc to the company the first stage is for them to print the image straight onto the canvas and then when it is ready the canvas is stretched and wrapped around the framework. This results in the edges of the picture losing perhaps two inches or more, depending on the overall size, as the photograph wraps around the sides. You can now see the importance of having the image resized before this procedure

commences, especially if it is a wedding or portrait shot, as you don’t want to lose portions of heads, feet or other crucial elements in the wrapping process. When I handle canvas wrap orders this is a critical and time consuming aspect of the prep yet it is vital if you want to ensure a perfect fit. Gallery Prints. "What are they?" I get asked this quite a lot as Gallery Prints are relatively new and not many wedding photographers in Edinburgh are yet offering them. Gallery Prints are the highest quality prints currently available. You can have a single image printed edge to edge or I can do a collage of images. Once prepared the photo or collage is printed, laminated and heat sealed onto foamex making it extremely light weight yet with rigid protection and allowing it to be hung in the fashionable floating gallery style. These really are the ultimate way to present and showcase your photographs! All the above points I’ve covered apply equally to wedding albums and digital books. All my albums are printed at the highest resolution, use the highest grade materials, and are physically checked by hand and eye for colour balance, accuracy, density, clarity, sharpness, etc, to ensure overall perfection.

There are plenty of companies around who can do things cheaper but the only way to achieve this is to compromise on materials and/or production. As my wedding clients receive all their photographs on their disc they have control over where they want to go for additional items and how much they wish to spend. When they want the very best albums and products they can order straight from me and for things of lesser importance they can use their disc to save themselves a lot of money. Photos posted are a selection of different products and include two prints in Display Mounts, a Strut mount, a Canvas Wrap, Digital Wedding Book and then three Gallery Print collages.